2007 Graduate Student Climate Conference

The 2007 Graduate Climate Conference was held October 19-21 at the Pack Forest Conference Center, and was a grand success. The conference brought together 72 graduate students from 23 institutions throughout the US and Canada for discussion and presentation on many areas of climate change research. Session topics were Clouds, aerosols, and water vapor, Hydrosphere, Paleoclimate, Dynamics, Biogeochemistry, and Policy, and a poster session featuring 35 posters. The policy session was new for the 2007 GCC and played a part in opening up conference discussion to the larger role that climate change science plays in society. This topic was introduced by the keynote speaker, Ian Kraucunas, who received his PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from UW in 2005 and is now a Program Officer at the National Academy of Science in Washington, D.C. Other weekend highlights included conversations on science and advocacy, ample time for dialogue during Q&A and panel discussions for each session, and a Sunday afternoon hike. The hard work of many PCC graduate students paid off in an inspirational weekend of research and learning. We are now looking forward to the 3rd Graduate Climate Conference which will be held at UW in the spring of 2009.